


something else that makes this tune complete

by Kitty Eden (TheBigCat)



Category: Bernice Summerfield (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Dancing, Friendship, Fusion, Gen, Jazz - Freeform, Legion - Freeform, Less Serious Talks, Serious Talks, dw fusion au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-18 00:33:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18109691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBigCat/pseuds/Kitty%20Eden
Summary: “Fusion is a unique and remarkable ability of my people that has been developed and perfected over our many centuries of existence. It is more-or-lesssacred. I absolutely point-blank refuse to be the title of our fusion be something as commonplace and undignified as… apun.”





	something else that makes this tune complete

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rae_marie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rae_marie/gifts).
  * Inspired by [i have never reached such heights](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18008768) by [rae_marie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rae_marie/pseuds/rae_marie). 



> All inspired by rae’s remarkable fusion AU, which is, in turn, based on Steven Universe. Do check out the fic in question - it's warm and bright and happy and just SO good!! 
> 
> I'm afraid that this may have gotten a bit rushed at the end, and is nowhere as near as polished as it probably could be. Sorry about that! I hope you enjoy it nevertheless.

It hadn’t even been intentional. They had been sitting around in Irving’s office in the White Rabbit, talking about everything and nothing – just two not-so-normal friends on a dangerous planet spending time together over a not-too-great bottle of wine – and at some point, Benny had mentioned old Earth music and Irving had got up to open up one of the cabinets to reveal the genuine-looking ancient antique record player that he had apparently been keeping for this exact moment. 

“Atmosphere,” he explained, picking out a record from a smaller shelf below it, and positioning it carefully on the device.

Benny leaned back in her chair. “Or maybe you’re just finding an excuse to show off again.”

“Or maybe it’s that, yes,” he allowed, and brought the needle down. The faint static of the turning record scratched cheerfully for a second or two, and then the sweet strains of jazz piano echoed through the room, quickly followed by the crooning of a woman’s low, smooth voice.

“Ah, dear old Ella,” Benny said fondly, smiling. She took a sip of wine. “You know, the Doctor took me to see her once?”

For once, Irving didn’t seem annoyed at the mention of his brother. He just checked the needle on the record player to make sure it was in place, and then came around the desk to sit next to her again. “As did I. A remarkable woman.  1967, I believe. Her and Duke Ellington, live at –”

“– live at  _ Jazz à Juan _ ,” said Benny, eyebrows raising. 

There was silence for a second, broken only by the sound of Ella Fitzgerald’s sweet, clear voice.

“You were there?” Irving asked, genuinely surprised by this revelation. 

“We must have both been,” Benny said. “Huh – that must have been before I even knew you existed. Small universe.”

“Indeed.” Irving leaned on one arm of the chair. “I’m sorry I missed you, then.”

“It would’ve been a different sort of first meeting,” Benny agreed. They listened to the music in comfortable silence for a while, and then she placed the glass on the desk, and stood, extending a hand to her friend. “C’mon.”

He looked up at her, unimpressed. “Bernice –”

“I can’t dance alone.” She wiggled her fingers in his direction. “You put on the music. You should’ve seen this coming.” 

Reluctantly, he stood, setting his drink aside. “I suppose I must have.”

Benny took his arm, and he looped his fingers around her other hand, and together they fumbled their way into a slow, clumsy pseudo-swing in which she stepped on his feet twice before finally getting the hang of it. It wasn’t anything very complicated, but it felt right.

“Have we danced before?” Irving asked, maybe sensing the familiarity about the way she was holding herself.

“With you? No,” Benny said, although she knew that wasn’t really what he was asking. He frowned slightly at her, a faint downwards curl of the lips, and she sighed and relented, stepping sideways to avoid colliding with a chair. “Once or twice. Mainly at some of your – at some of  _ his _ parties. Never for very long,” she added, thoughtfully. “I’m clumsy as all hell on the dance floor.”

“We’re the same person,” he reminded her, although he didn’t sound too happy about it.

She stopped dancing for a second – bringing them swirling to a stop in the middle of the room – and looked up at him; looked at him properly. He was nearly an entire foot taller than her – always had been. His face was familiar. It was the face of the man who had ensnared her, stood by her, killed her husband, betrayed her; died right before her eyes. And yet he was none of those things. He was different, here and now – it was sometimes hard to remember, but it was important. He cared. Not just about her – about all of them, and that was really more than she could say for that other version of him.

“No,” she said. “You aren’t.”

She clasped her hand properly in his, and he smiled, tentatively but genuinely, and put a hand on her back, and as the last strains of  _ Paper Moon  _ faded out, they danced like it had been choreographed – like they had done it a million times before. As they twirled to a halt again, Benny squeezed Irving’s hand, and he squeezed back, and she grinned and leaned in to hug him. Incredibly, he hugged back - long fingers spreading out evenly over her back, leaning down to meet her. She opened her mouth, about to say something, but then –

Flash. The most brilliant, warm light, filling her up inside so absolutely that she couldn’t imagine how she had ever lived without it –

– and then something changed.

Tall – ridiculously tall, in fact. Excellent. Dark hair still – only makes sense, really; a bit messier than they would have liked, but can’t be helped. One single hoop earring – well, that’s new! ( _ For you, maybe. _ ) ( _ I never said I objected. _ ) ( _ Well, good, because – _ )

Wait.

Wait, wait,  _ wait – _

They looked down at their clothes – a curious mix of Irving’s carefully curated, immaculately tailored suit; and Benny’s somewhat less-than-immaculate casual clothes. 

“Oh, Goddess,” they said, eyes widening, and then, “dear  _ Rassilon  _ – we didn’t. But – we did. What? How? I –  _ how!? _ ”

The record was still playing. Ella was still singing – something different, more unfamiliar. They frowned, shook their head, and paced quickly across their – across Irving’s office and paused, briefly delighted, when they noticed how long their stride had become, and then – “no, this is an  _ emergency  _ –” and they took the needle off the record player, rendering the room silent, and resumed pacing again. 

“We’re all right with this?” they asked themselves aloud, because talking to themselves felt like a very  _ them  _ thing to do, and then they answered it with a, “yes, I think so,” and a, “good, excellent,” in response to that, and then they swivelled on their heel so they could press their hands against their - Irving’s - no,  _ their  _ desk. 

“All right,” they said, “I’m here now - this is  _ me,  _ so - I need a name. Right? Yes.”

They froze in place, becoming as still as a statue in less than an instant, and thought for a moment.

“The Art-chaeologist,” they said suddenly, and then grinned, and then scowled, and almost immediately unfused – Benny and Irving being both practically thrown across the room in opposite directions – Irving ending up in an undignified pile somewhere near his desk, and Benny hurtling the other way – knocking a chair askew enough that it actually broke into two, and landing face-down in the carpet.

“ _ No _ ,” said Irving instantly, picking himself up off the ground. He was still scowling.

Benny just laughed, turning over so she was facing him. “Come on – it’s perfect. You know it is.”

“No, no,  _ no. _ Fusion is a unique and remarkable ability of my people that has been developed and perfected over our many centuries of existence. It is more-or-less  _ sacred.  _ I absolutely point-blank refuse to be the title of our –” and here he paused, like he was almost unsure of himself, before continuing right on, “ – our  _ fusion _ be something as commonplace and undignified as…” His face twisted unpleasantly. “…a  _ pun _ .”

“All right, all right,” Benny said, leaning back and rolling her eyes. “Killjoy.”

A moment passed.

“If we wanted to be extremely pedantic about naming conventions and so on,” said Irving slowly, and a tiny smile found its way onto his face, “…an acceptable name for us – them – would be ‘Irverfield’.”

Now it was Benny’s turn to scowl. “If you do  _ that,  _ we’re never fusing again.”

He lost the smile, too. “Yes. About that.” 

She was about to make another joke, but then she caught the stricken look on his face. “I’m guessing you weren’t expecting that.”

“No. You were?”

“I – “ She made a so-so motion with a hand. “I mean, I knew that it  _ could  _ happen – the Doctor and all, you know – but like I said – we’ve danced a few times, and it never happened before, so it didn’t really cross my mind until it happened, and then I went,  _ oh, right _ .”  It wasn’t like she hadn’t done it before. Travelling with the Doctor tended to expand your horizons in very unexpected ways.

“I see,” he said, and didn’t elaborate.

She looped her arms around her knees, peering over at him. It didn’t look like either of them were planning on getting up yet, and she was content to just sit on one side of the office for the moment – he looked like he needed the space. “Everything okay?”

“I didn’t even think humans and Time Lords  _ could  _ fuse,” he said quietly.

She blinked. For once, she was in the relatively unique position of knowing something about Gallifreyans that Irving didn’t, and she wasn’t sure if she liked it. “Huh. Really?” The Doctor had never mentioned anything like this – fusion prejudice, or whatever. But it sounded about right. “One of those things that Time Lords frowned upon, huh?”

He just nodded.

“That must have been pretty shocking for you, then,” she realized, and then leaned forward. “I... have absolutely no idea if this is a personal question for you lot or not, but – when was the last time?”

“That I fused?” A kind of twisted smile. “Nearly a century, I’d say.”

Benny puffed out her cheeks, surprised but trying not to show it outwardly. “Ouch. Been a while, then.”

“That’s putting it lightly.” He picked at the carpeted floor absently with his fingers. “And before you ask, it was no-one of consequence. Rather an impersonal affair, really. Not worth speaking about – certainly not enjoyable.”

Benny winced. “I’m sorry about that.”

Irving glanced up, surprised. “Don’t be. It was, like I said, quite a while ago.”

“Still.” She pressed her lips together, and then said, “hopefully this was a bit better, than.”

“Oh, it  _ was _ ,” Irving replied without even pausing to think about it. He didn’t exactly smile, but his expression became lighter and his eyes crinkled up around the edges. “You’re a remarkable woman, Bernice Summerfield.”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” she returned, mouth quirking upwards, and for a second or two there was just comfortable silence between then. 

And then Irving stood up.

“One more time?” he offered, with a sort of half-smile, stretching out a hand to her. “Only if you want to, of course, but –” he hesitated, and then admitted, “it’s been a very long time since I’ve had the chance to do this with anyone at all –”

Benny accepted the hand without hesitation, cutting him off.

He took a breath, and then set off into a direction in a pattern that turned out to be a waltz. The first few steps were more than a little awkward – this time, it was Irving’s turn to step on her feet – but then they settled into the rhythm of things.

“No music?” she asked.

Irving smiled properly, and then hummed, briefly, and sang, in a surprisingly clear, strong voice, “ _ it don’t mean a thing – _ ”

She got it instantly. “–  _ if you ain’t got that swing, _ ” she joined in, voice not quite as clear as his, but still in-tune; and they twirled in a tight but neat spiral, moving around the tiny space of the office. The waltz turned into a quick two-step kind of rhythmic jive,

“ _ Doo-wah, doo-wah, doo-wah, doo-wah, doo-wah – _ ” 

They started off singing together, but then Benny started laughing at the delightful absurdity of the situation, and Irving chuckled, and although they were both still trying to keep going, they didn’t end up getting much further than that. And as it turned out, it didn’t really matter – because as Irving, still chuckling, pulled Benny into a loose twirl, the room flared with light again, and when it cleared –

– well, they had either both vanished entirely, or were both still remarkably pleasant, depending on which theories of being you subscribed to, personally. But either way, the person that was left alone in the room was hugging themselves and still laughing.

“Aha!” they said, straightening up with a wide smile on their face. “I’m back –  _ excellent. _ ” 

And then there was a considerable pause as they realized that neither they nor the two people that made up their whole had any idea what to do next. They hadn’t thought that far ahead.

“Well, then,” they said, slowly. “I suppose I should... hm.”

There was a knock at the door, and then it opened almost immediately, revealing Peter, who apparently hadn’t bothered to wait for a response before entering. He was looking at a clipboard, and so hadn’t actually noticed the fact that Benny and Irving no longer technically as separate entities. “Irving, Jack needs you to sign for that new shipment of shot glasses.”

“I’ll get right onto it,” they said automatically, reaching for the clipboard. “Here, let me –”

Peter frowned. “You sound weird. Are you-?” 

And then he looked up at them, and he dropped the clipboard, and let out a brief, very un-Peter-like shriek. 

They backed away from him immediately, raising their hands defensively. “Peter, listen – we – I –”

“Dear  _ god _ what did the two of you  _ do, _ ” Peter panicked, backing up against the wall. “Is this some time travel thing? Did you both try to travel to the same spot at the same time and get horribly meshed together, or –”

“Hey – I hardly think I’m  _ ‘horrible’  _ –”

“–  _ is this permanent?”  _ Peter pretty much screamed at them. “I can’t handle this if it is! I already have terrible family issues already, what the  _ hell  _ am I supposed to call you if you’re  _ two people at once _ –”

“ _ Don’t worry this was intentional,”  _ they yelled back. “Kind of! Absolutely! Definitely! And it’s  _ not  _ permanent, we can probably unfuse if we just –  _ um – _ ”

“That does  _ not  _ inspire confidence!”

“Peter?!” Ruth hollered from down the hallway, and there was the sound of running footsteps for a few seconds, before she burst into the room. “I heard a scream –  _ oh my god! _ ” she added, staring. “How  _ \-  _ just.  _ How? _ ”

They were beginning to come to the fascinating conclusion that, based on the surge of immense affection that they felt whenever a new person entered the room, both of of the people they were made of cared a lot more about the residents of the White Rabbit than they tended to show outwardly. Which, in the case of Benny, who pretty much wore her heart on her sleeve; was more than a little impressive.

“Hello. Yes.” They cleared their throat. “Let’s see – I am the fusion of your two friends; this was absolutely meant to happen, maybe; they are both perfectly fine and rather enjoying themselves, and I prefer to go by ‘they’ and ‘them’ rather than any explicitly gendered pronouns. Is there anything else?”

Ruth stared, and then blinked, and then stared again. “Okay.  _ Wow. _ Um, I’m gonna need a moment.”

They nodded, and then looked around the room, taking stock of what was going on. They were taller than usual. One chair was broken. Peter was now standing in the corner, face pressed to the wall. He appeared to be having a small breakdown. Ruth had her eyes closed, and was apparently thinking hard.

All in all, it wasn’t the  _ worst  _ way this particular situation could have gone down.

“Hi, Irving,” said Jack, walking into the disaster and immediately making things a million times worse. “Hi, Benny.”

“Hello, Jack,” they said, with a tiny, awkward wave in his direction. “Although, I suppose – technically speaking – I’m not either of them anymore? It’s complicated. And, speaking of that, I’m now accepting suggestions for potential names for myself. So please feel free to submit them now, at your convenience.” 

Jack nodded, thought for half a second, and then said, “the Art-chaeologist.”

They smiled pleasantly, and then said, “Jack, you’re fired.”

“Worth it,” he said, nodding.

Ruth blinked and cleared her throat, and said, "right. All right."

They swung around, turning their attention away from Jack, and looked at her, tilting their head to one side. "Yes? Everything okay?"

"Well, I mean," she said, "this is all a bit – well, it's more than weird, honestly. Two of my friends suddenly fusing into one, larger friend? That's definitely not the sort of problem that normal people tend to have. But, um." She smiled up at them, tentatively. "Yeah. I think I'm fine. Just needed a moment to get over the shock, I think?"

"I'm glad," they said, and then turned their attention to Peter, who was still (apparently) quietly losing his mind in the corner. They paused, unsure of how to address him for one extremely weird moment, and then said, "um. Peter?"

"Peter can't come to the phone right now," he said at the wall. “You broke me. Congratulations."

They sighed. "Really, now. You're just being dramatic."

He huffed, and then turned around. "Okay, well – maybe I am, a bit. Can you blame me? This is  _ weird _ . Weirder than usual, I mean." 

"Like I said – this was unplanned, they're both perfectly fine, I rather enjoy being corporeal and in-existence, and we can unfuse at any time." They shrugged, and then got distracted by the strange and fascinating way that Benny and Irving's clothing had combined itself, especially at the ends of their sleeves. This was only for a second, though, because they quickly realized that they were doing it, and shook themselves into reality. "Do you want me to?"

"Unfuse?" Peter said, like the word was entirely unfamiliar to him – strange in his mouth. He seemed to think about if for a second, and then he shook his head. "That's not really my decision, though, is it? It's – god, this is so weird – up to you two. Up to you. You three? Whatever."

They smiled and said, “thank you, Peter. That really does mean a lot.”

He shrugged, and turned sideways so he didn’t need to look them in the eyes.

"Group hug?" Ruth asked, awkwardly holding out her arms like she was unsure if it was the right time to suggest it – which it absolutely was, of course.

"Yes," they said, immediately hugging her very tightly, which (they thought to themselves) was almost certainly more down to the part of them that was Benny than Irving's own part.

"Urgh,  _ fine _ ," said Peter, rolling his eyes and going to join them.

"Jack, I already told you; you're  _ fired _ ," the fusion said as Jack wrapped his extraordinarily long arms around the entire group, somehow.

"You can fire me from this establishment, but you can’t fire me from this weird, messed-up family," Jack told them cheerfully.

They smiled, and then outright grinned as something inside them glowed warm and bright and happy, and then said, "hang on. I believe I can think of two people who would very much want to be here right now."

And then there was a bright flash of light and the three others let out noises of complaint – but then it cleared and the group hug was one large friend smaller and two smaller friends bigger.

"Hey, everyone," said Benny, who was now kind of crushed in the middle awkwardly. Her hair was ruffled, like she had been outside during a fierce windstorm for a short period of time, but she had never felt more energized. 

“Welcome back,” said Jack cheerfully. “Am I still fired?”

“Absolutely,” said Irving, just as Benny said, “definitely not,” and then they both laughed, still giddy on the energy.

Irving actually waited a full five seconds after that before extracting himself from the hug, with an, “all right, that’s quite enough of  _ that, _ ” which meant that he had been enjoying it a lot but didn’t want anyone to know.

Ruth untangled herself next, ducking under Jack's arms, and said, "well, that was fun and exciting and all that, but, uh – warn us next time, maybe?"

Benny laughed again as the rest of the group hug fell apart. "All right, we'll try."

Peter picked up the dropped clipboard from the ground, and handed it to Irving. “You’ve got to sign-?”

“Ah – yes, thank you. I’ll get onto that right now.” Irving straightened his suit jacket, which had become slightly askew. He looked over everybody, and caught Benny’s eye – and gave her a tiny, genuinely delighted smile. “Good evening, Benny. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Night, Irving,” she said, returning the smile, and began to tidy away the bottle and wine glasses that had been abandoned on his desk.

“ _ Say, _ ” said Jack suddenly, from the hallways. “If humans and Time Lords can fuse –”

“No. No.  _ No _ ,” said Irving, who had apparently already seen where this was going, and did not like it one bit. 

“I’m just saying! Kadeptian physiology isn’t all that different to human –”

“If you think for one second that I’m going to even entertain the notion of fusing with you, Jack McSpringheel, you are sorely mistaken,” said Irving, and then the door closed behind the, and the rest of that particular argument was too muffled for the people remaining to hear any of it at all.

Benny downed the remaining wine in her glass in one gulp, and just grinned.

**Author's Note:**

> The first song is, of course, Ella Fitzgerald’s Paper Moon. Title from 'It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)' - which is what they dance to the second time, of course.
> 
> [Fic commentary here.](http://therogueofblood.tumblr.com/post/183914052985/could-you-do-the-fic-commentary-thing-for-time)


End file.
